The National Collegiate Honors Council recently awarded Grand Canyon University’s Honors College with a first-place win for its work on the Canyon Journal of Undergraduate Research, which made its debut just two years ago.
“The Canyon Journal of Undergraduate Research is a relatively new publication,” Honors College Dean Dr. Breanna Naegeli said of the CJUR, which won in the Student/Faculty/Administrator Published Journal division of the Honors Publication Contest. “The fact that we’ve earned this honor so new in our tenure is just a testament to how much work is going into it on the back end and to the caliber of our authors who are putting in the work and going through the preparation for getting published.”
The multidisciplinary journal debuted in 2023, with the university offering mentorship in academic research and opportunities for students to explore academic, professional and personal issues. The idea also was for contributors to offer solutions to benefit affected communities and reflect on industry and community service experiences.
The journal started as an annual publication, but student interest motivated the Honors College to expand to biannual publishing.
The journal has produced three volumes with four issues, with the most recent issue released in June and a second issue anticipated in November.
“I was very excited to be notified we had taken first place,” Katalina Inzunza Herrera, Honors College assistant director, said. “We spend many hours reviewing manuscripts, managing the submission portal, coaching students, facilitating peer reviews and coordinating with faculty and staff across the university in every step.
“This effort is truly interdisciplinary and involves multiple departments working together to ensure a high-quality publication with every issue.”
To prepare and educate students on what it takes to publish research, the college offers an academic journal writing course. Many students who desire to be published in the journal, go through this course to learn about possible writing topics, manuscript styles, types of research and what it takes to prepare a submission for the journal.
While the course is eight weeks long, the research, writing and publication process can last up to a year. Students can work with faculty mentors in conducting research within their labs, work entirely on their own or in groups to determine their research topics.
Inzunza Herrera and Honors College Director Dr. Marette Hahn work alongside students as they explore topics and take on the writing process to compose efficient, organized and insightful manuscripts. Meanwhile, Jenny Kuban, Research and Grants senior program manager, facilitates revisions and ensures a thorough editing process that prepares the journal for a publication release.
"I want students to see publishing as an attainable and empowering experience that builds confidence in their scholarly voice," Kuban said. "I hope the journal continues to grow as a platform where students can share their research, creativity and perspectives with a wider audience and that it inspires future students to take pride in their work and see themselves as part of an ongoing tradition of academic and creative excellence."
Student and alumni authors featured in the most recent issue of the award-winning journal are:
- Noah Larson: “The Great Commission: Effect of Evangelism on the Christian”
- Harmony Jenkins: “Developing Community Leaders: A Reflection on the Motivating Factors Behind Prosocial and Altruistic Behavior in Adolescents”
- Allison Rogers, Sedina Hayes, Elise Ahrens, Lilly Revell and Allyson Wagner: “Moving Toward Presence: How Dance/Movement Therapy Could Repair Derealization/Depersonalization Disorder Symptomatology at the Neurobiological Level”
- Colin J. O’Reilly, Brynn E. Brunswig, Megan McConnell, Piper R. Necaise and Sedina Hayes: “Accommodations for Neurodivergent Students: Individualization and How to Implement Individualization in the Classroom”
- Kobe Lage, Addie Gjelsten, Dillon McGuckin, Cierra Baca, Brianna Vandeweg, Natalie Logan and Tatiana Calicich: “Job Stress and Career Performance”
- Benjamin Carter, Nathan Dilla, Michael Callahan and Atuhaire Ambala: “Deepfake Detection Via Facial Feature Extraction and Modeling”
- MacKenzie Purdy: “The Invisible Workforce: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Labor Trafficking”
The published manuscripts can be found here.
To be considered for a future publication, students can create a manuscript based on the guides provided by GCU and submit their research on the Canyon Journal of Undergraduate Research website.
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